CEATL is an international non-profit association (AISBL) under Belgian law, officially created in 1993 as a platform where literary translators’ associations from different European countries could exchange views and information, and join forces to improve status and working conditions of literary translators. Set up by 10 founder members, CEATL now has 35 member associations from 29 countries across Europe, representing some 10,000 individual authors. In recent years several associations from former Eastern Europe have joined us, as has the Turkish association Çevbir, and CEATL will continue to encourage associations in the new EU member states and in EU neighbouring countries to become members....

Latest news items

The Swedish Writers’ Union is advising translators in Sweden against entering into agreements with all publishing companies within the Bonnier Publishing Group, Sweden’s largest publisher. Eleven companies have been declared non grata by the Union.

This comes after the Bonnier Group introduced a new Draft Contract earlier this year, which is to be used by all its subsidiaries and which includes many changes for the worse for translators. […]

The number of users of e-readers is increasing – a positive development, as it offers opportunities to bring a broader readership into contact with a diverse range of books. But it is also important to consider the negative consequences.

E-books are illegally downloaded and distributed on a large scale. As a result, writers and translators are increasingly missing out on revenue. To bring this issue to the attention of the public, the Auteursbond (the Dutch Association of Authors), with financial support from the Dutch collecting society Lira, made a short video. […]

In January 2018 the Vertalersvakschool Amsterdam (Amsterdam Academy for literary translation) will open an academy in Antwerp in cooperation with Vlaams Fonds voor de Letteren (Flemish Literary Fund). The academy starts with a pilot of two trimesters and offers courses in translation from German, English or French literature into Dutch. Experienced literary translators will be the supervisors who teach the students the tricks of the trade and help them to find their way to literary publishers. […]

There seems to be a commonly held belief (among translators, publishers, and readers alike) that the more books you translate, the faster you become. But often the opposite is true, because with experience many translators become more alert to linguistic subtleties and literary complexities. ¨…*